Interchangeable key lock



Oct. 6, 1931. E. M. BENHAM INTERCHANGEABLE KEY LOCK Filed July 30. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR. 9 21. 64 4 BY A; A TTORNEY}.

E. M. BENHAM IKTEROHANGEABLE KEY L001:

Oct 6, 1931.

2 sheets sheet 2 Filed July 30. 1930 ATTORNEYS.

zZ-NVENTOL BY %4- I... 4...!

i I fl atented fj' This "invention relates to locks,= and*more I particularly toajlock forfsafety deposit boxes in banks; the boixes being for ren'tto custonr aerato the stdragex of papers and valuables o Safety deposit boxes are customarily? pro-r vided with' locks: soiconstructed that after tl" y are rented tlrey'bannot be unlocked orf opened except bynieanstofitWo keys; One;

of these keys is' the guard' -key which-is vkept by the custodian iof-thegbank, and the other is the customers keywhich-tho customer keeps v customeriswkey inhis possessionf:

F or ,thei sak e ofisafet :and security, itlis desirable that-lino one; have access. to {the customers key'exce'p'tz Itlic customer Who rents the boxr-i It 'is also desirable 5 that the boxes may e shipped :trom the afac'tory' unlocked condition ,3 but .that'thenustodian of the bank mayu' nlock' andirelocleany of thelboxes prior to rentalin order to erhibit'themgto the pros pectivei customer ithout icalling into, use

lt?is l'also'of' rent-advantage to provide a lockwhich does not require the cu'stodians guard lkey to bezleftzin the =lockl-until the. customer has openeditlieibOX by means 0f the custoiners key," since if the" custodian j walks-aways:andirleaveshis key unwatched, there;.i s:-some danger oflhl's guard key being taken out surreptitiously and an impression made-thereot andacopledrand the copy being put to. an f unauthoriz'lecl use; Thus withlocks I which .requirethe guardkey-to bele'ft in the f It;has:.beenproposed heretoforeito locks-Twh'ich'dopermit the remov'al gQi the gin ardf fkey b'eforethe' box; has been unlocked lock :uht' il thegbox has been openedkthecusto i8.11, -lS::YIy:m1lCl'l handicapped ingiving-at-j cusifomersgobject totheldelay. 1

I tentionkto other customers promptly, andthe 'proride by; the? eu-st'omen, but these rare; obj ection able 7' 'fsince it he'yimustrbeset at the fa-ictory toree spond' to;a; ar icula xregular;: ey, d. 1

not permit;interchanging of customers keys: VVithrt-liesef there 1S3 ,dangergiot ninauthorized access and copying'of theonly'regul'ar key for; the'lock prior to; itsbeing"turnedover ,to Ethefcustomer; Moreoyer, when such boX is surrendered after; rental, or a customer, jafter-'delivery= anduse of the only regularkey nnn'ruoxv; a eon-rename: or 01110 rnrfnnoiinnenanrn EY Loon.

ht' Qatibnhied 'nu eQ, 1930. Serial No. 471,673.

for the-box, decides not to rentthat box, it

has been necessary to send the lockbaok to, the factory to have the lock set for another regularkey.

' vThe principalobject of my invention is to; providea lock which does not need to be set 'torental .byvthe custodian without the use of-any regular key; a lock which does not require the guard key to be left in the lock until it has been unlocked by the custome'r'; alock which may be reset readily and easily :t'orlocking, and unlocking without thee-fuse of'a regular, key, following the surrendercofthe box by acustomer and the turningin of the 'customers key to which the lockhad been set ,a lock which provides ample tolerance between generous key lifts; a lockswhich has only a single nose, and one which is of extremely simple, sturdy and durable construction. In other words, the object o f-qthis invention is to provide a greatly" improved interchangeable key lock. iOtherobjects of this invention will be in afterr; (Q: 1, r v 2-; In accordance with this invention, I provide mast'er tumblers, guard tumblersand change tumblers, mutually nested and pivoted ofiasingle post,theguard and change tumblers preferably swinging in theopposite dipart obviousjand in part pointed out hereinfiorrica riro,',; essrenon TO THE MosLnR LOCK ooMrAN-Y,

rection' from the master tumblers; Means are,

provided whereby-when the guard tumblers areset up by me'ans'of the guardkey, theylbecome; lOCkQdtlH this position, and will remain setup when the guard key is removed, but are automatically releasediand fall when the 'cu'stomers key or a throw ofi key is manipulatedgThe master tumblers coact with .slidescarriedonthe boltbar, the customers keysjby means of a change keys The loc k beiset to be nesponsive to at s peciel key -1O1 in e the box for i'nspectioni this invention may behad, attention is hereeferr ng tothedmwingsz fllthisinvention? FigfQ is a top-view thereof with the eove'l" removed} j is is a side viewof thelo'ck mechanism 'fiEigJ 4'jis' a diagreinmetieel' View, showi-ng; 1 the position of a main tumb1er;the' s1ide and when the lock is :unl eked in the regular a diagiemmatieal viemshowing I p' fateswhen'the guard"tumblershave been: set

' +25 new m Q gu k ys f I (S ish}diagraminetieal vie ,"-sho:Win-g' 1th positioned ee'z taj-in ofthetumblers a 'heingezplete and other parts; when the "lock tieii-ler' i stomefskey'to heselected; E V I T- F ig: 7 i s w-plenview oieneutrztlizey adaptfed tobe used in opening the look before the I lockihzitsf iheen adjustedtot1- regular key; I

v filo ig -w-plen'view ofereguler key,*aiso toine"s'key;

'a plan view of a ehenge'key.

' Refini g to thef firawhfigsf 'loek meehanisnn shoi'ised in a su tahlejeesing:comp ise ing e 109x 1 having a cov'er 2. :The' lock mech- I aib olt'jportion projec ti ng through ablee-pertn re in the=' case"1. Theibelthar 1s ztngetii nhlers ll; The e is-an individn'al -s1' G G-ZlIiOI B LCH main"tumblerendge se arate u'aid plete' 8 ffoii ea'oh uard -tumble end a the ?h 0115' b al "S and turiiblers p'riortd rental, to 'permitgloekin'g, and 'un-V 7,..l1'1 order thet a clea'r'er understanding of by: directed to the. accompanying drawings fforming 'a part of this application and' i'11u'sr' j trating certain possible embodiments of this ii ithi n the case' endis -takenion the 1 ineV--33 I gagesthe'ndse235pof theguandp1etel2ando "tumblers. I I t '1-:A11theitumblers:axesptefembly-zeomn only v of certain tumblers and guard isadj-nsted hyf neensfofpthe chztnge lgeyiinj "3 condition tobe set -1 ;o* resp'oI 1ci ito zinyqpar t anisni inclutles aisnitableh1thars3 having; I o o W he n a; customise desires to I nent' rthe box, I I I I I the guwrdfttl' mblers sirefifstset111p hy'mieans r provided-with two =p1ns"5, -on which are Shd' gtard tembleisf gjafidthe plaites :IOforthe sel ted into the te e 21* tuBeaQZQWithvbQth; 'k'e is 'possibleibeeause-thethan the notches'i28atthei'front endsoi; e ohangetumblers With thefin ers QenthesehangQ 'p1ates,' }pe r mitting{%s11'eient' ea i V immhe a uaii tum le In'this ay increasedlifts or; hits" is pro I moved forwardly by the guard key to engage the stuinp 13 in notches MPro'vided therefor at the "rear ends of the guard tumblers, the guard key, on V otation *aligning these notches with the stump. t'ump 13 holds the of the guardtkeyfpriortozthense oia' iybolt retracting key-v 'Gua dp elZ.m iy b gi ibn Pi I 1 ,151and*16,fwhich;atre seeured'tothebottom; 75 Fig. 1 is'f'a top' view of. a locken'ibodying' of the look 'case Lt-11d. extend through suitable slots, snehas 17 'and 'l8, formedin the guard akingj the movesfthis *plate lee-merely;

' Q ihe guard stuinp 413 ontslof the-notches; I

nestedito pi'vot on zpinflfi', findgthfi lisl l ll springsififi are} provided "to? restoring the tumblers to: let down-position} i When deposit boxes-equipped withthese 7 looksate-* -sent fnon l the "factory and fare ino. I stalled, andpreferably at all times-apriol-f to j'rentahjthe slide plates'ifi are allzinslet-down position;(: Fig. '6) ,Isothet thezfi'n gers 1.9 thereofareinalignmentvwith thenotches-20,et the r,,= frontends lof theam'ain-"tumblers, permitting I 'the loek to be'iunl'ocked' witho'litanequiringeny disturbance orl wre-lati ze iadj ustmentj 10f ,the o main tnmhler'sflioriislidtes.v .A 'neutmllikeygis provided which isladepted toflbeinserted in the slot- :21} of Zthe key itube222-5'iaA-nd awhen fso inserted and" turned, willmei'elyengage the I boltQbanB andmetraet'the;biolt,f pnovided the iniler 'referenceehaigaieters :referlto' SIT-1311:,

gnai d' tumhlers' ane set up, withofit i displacingany of the regular-tumblers. Thussthe hank :ofiicial may: iinlookthebox means of thel guar'd key and:themeuti'aLkey.toxexhihit of the guard keyHQL lwhieh is thenimemoved'.

The change f ke'y 25 j-then in'serlted'i inflthe keywwa 'ee, irom which ithe gua dikeyt has 7 -v been removed; me t-h qieutra1-key27t is inf 7' shen thekey I {page isi-turned a T 1 amount of turn getkeyihas aligned "Both- 05E thesekeys they new The" customer havingheen given his key,

-preferehly ine sealed envelope, and; selected at random from e plni alii'ty pet difleient 1'30 which is: now in'tliepositionjusuallyoccupied by'th'e 1 key. way-'26. The customer then turns'fthi's key ,in'docking direction; During this movement, thelifts of, the keyengage,

the main ti'unblers'fan'd move them, together with "the slidesengaged thereby, intoa relaa ti've alignment corresponding to the arrange merit.v of the key lifts; of this particular key.

vByreason ofthe engagement ofthe tongue formed in theibolt'plate. slit te plate of notches 34. The'pin 32 becomes seatedin the respective notches inaccordance with the" is provided along its front edgeiwithiaseries relativeipositions towhich the sl'ides' hav'e been adjusted by means" of they customers "key? :As'the slides areseated home on the pin QQ the'fingers of thesl'ides'fdraw out of-the notches'in the main tumblers and these fall,

dogging the slides and thebolt bar until set 'upinto alignment with the fingers by the keyiwhich wasuseditoylock" the lock V Y customers ke which has been used as above described. When'the' bo is'surrendered it eanreasilyfbe reset for the neutral key.

A VJheneverthe customer desires the box'to I be unlocked,"the custodian ofthe guard key sets "up the guard tumblers, and if desired,

.. removes the guard key and' need not wait fordhe, customer w manipulate h s key. ,Thus the custodian oi ltheguard key isfree to attendbtoiother customers'promptly. If

I j the customer had opiened theboX, the cus- 'todiaii could' only -leave to attendvtoi other customers at therisk of leaving the guard the guard-key had-to remain in place until key accessible to other persons and subjected or a change tumbler between each two main to unauthorized copying or handling, at the risk of safety and protection, not only to the bank, but also to the lessee of the boXes.

i {Preierably, there is either a guard tumbler tumblers. IThis permitsthe key lifts of all a ,The lock has only "an advantage.

the keys-to be large and provides more tol-- erance in the seating of the keys in their 'key ways. i

The construction/permits inclusion of a large-number oftumblers, thus providing additional security against unauthorized entry and increases the" number of different keystowhich the lock'can 'be set, I

a single nose,fwh ich is I Obviously, the lock ttains theobjects and has the advantages referredto hereinbefore,

as 'wellas' others which apparent to 7 those skilled, in the art.

1 Asman'y changes could be made in the above construction and as many apparently widely-different embodiments ofthis invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is to'be understood that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

7*1. In a, lock of the character described, in combination, a singlekey tube having two key ways, a bolt bar, means for dogging said 7 v p g p able separately into non-dogging position by Thereafterfand until the change key has again been applied in thejproper way, the I lock cannot be unlocked by'means-of any other unlocking key exceptthe particular means of appropriate keys operated in said key ways, and means adjustableby operation of the key for oneof said sets of tumblers,

IEO

for holding said set in non-dogging position after-being set up bysaid key, permitting removal of said key without disturbing the setup position of said set of tumblers."

3. In a lock of the character described, in combination, a single key tube having two key ways, a bolt bar, means fordoggin'g said bolt bar, including three sets of tumblers adjustable separately into non-dogging position by means of appropriate keys operated in said key ways, means for holding one ofsaid sets of tumblers in non-dogging position after being set up by means oftheir key, permitting removal of said key without disturbing the set-up positionof said'set of tumblers, said means being adjustableby means of akey operated in one of saidkey ways'to release said set of tumblers from set-up position. 7 i 4:. In arlock of theicharacter described, in

combination, a case, aslide pin fixed to the case, a tumbler pivoted in the case, a bolt bar slidably mounted in the case, a slide plate mounted on the bolt bar for movement therewithiand having notches engageable with the slide pin. on movement of the bolt bar into locking position and movable out of engagement with the slide pin and into engagement with a'tumbler upon movement of thebolt bar into unlocking'position, said slide plate,

when in engagement with the tumbler, being movable therebytransversely of the bolt bar,

. aguard tumbler pivoted within the case, and

a guard plate: carried on the bolt barior movement therewith, said guard tumbler and J 

